Freng sighed. Nothing he needed less than to be pinned down on a planet so obscure it had no name. Strike that. He needed about a division’s less of the damned enemy here.

The Space Rangers required a tough, resourceful individual, willing to do whatever to accomplish the mission. For those reasons, Freng had not merely warped out when he detected the concentration of forces on the mudball.

He’d had his ship execute a burn into the atmosphere, ejecting him at the last possible instant before taking up. The planetoid hosted an automated intelligence outpost that had spent the last three solar months charting enemy activity and strength. His mission? Retrieve the data at all costs and return to HQ.

In this case, “at all costs” involved neutralizing more enemy forces than any ranger could be expected to. Freng didn’t really care for the idea, but failure wasn’t an option.

“So, Tonto, we got a few while you fabricate and them bastards regroup. Wanna kill time getting’ better acquainted?”

Freng’s singleship was the first fully-autonomous scout vessel in the quadrant. He’d been paired with the experimental craft from a pool of hundreds of applicants. Though they’d been deployed awhile now, operations had prevented completion of the full ‘bonding procedures’ from Science Command . It was believed the bond between commander and ship would decrease manpower needs and significantly improve efficiency. Good theory but unproven.

*As you wish, Captain. I have noted your continued references to this unit as ‘Tonto’. This is not my designated nomenclature, model number or any classification I have knowledge of. Explain, please.*

He chuckled. “Big Braniac like you hasn’t figgered that out, eh? Well then, here goes. What’s the standard crew complement of a Republic Ranger scout unit?”